Tuesday, October 08, 2024

2024.10.08 Hopewell @Home ▫ Psalm 119:161–168

Read Psalm 119:161–168

Questions from the Scripture text: Who are doing what to the psalmist (Psalm 119:161a)? Why? But what is the condition of his heart (verse 161b)? Toward what? What else does he do toward God’s Word (Psalm 119:162a)? To what extent (verse 162b)? What hate and what love go together (Psalm 119:163)? What does the psalmist do, how many times a day (Psalm 119:164a)? On account of what (verse 164b)? Who have what (Psalm 119:165a)? What can make them stumble (verse 165b)? For what does the psalmist hope (Psalm 119:166a)? What do people who hope thus do (verse 166b, cf. 1 John 3:3)? With what does the psalmist keep God’s testimonies (Psalm 119:167a)? What is his disposition toward them (verse 167b)? What does he do (Psalm 119:168a)? Why (verse 168b)?

How should we respond to God’s Word? Psalm 119:161–168 looks forward to opening portion of morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eight verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that our affections toward God ought to be expressed toward His Word by which He communicates Himself to us.  

The great theme of the second-to-last stanza of this psalm is the psalmist’s affections toward God’s Word. 

Awe at the Word. Even hunted by princes (Psalm 119:161a), the much greater awe that the psalmist has for God’s Word (verse 161b) delivers him from being afraid of anything else. Would you be fearless of men or circumstances? Develop a holy awe for God’s Word. Handle it with awe. Hear it with awe. Think upon it with awe.

Joy at the Word. Wouldn’t it be amazing to discover a great treasure?! It doesn’t have to be hypothetical. Every time you read or hear the Bible, you are discovering great treasure, and you should rejoice that way (Psalm 119:162).

Love for the Word. Lying is wicked. God cannot do it (cf. Titus 1:2). The devil is the father of it (cf. John 8:44). And believers should hate it (Psalm 119:163a). Alternatively, God’s law never ever lies. It is always true, always right, always faithful, always reliable. What a lovely thing is God’s law, and dearly should we love it (verse 163b)!

Praise at the Word. The “seven” in Psalm 119:164 is a number of completeness. We ought to praise God continually, but we find that we can be quite sluggish to do so. One solution is to think upon the judgments of His Word. as we meditate upon how just and good and righteous and holy His Word shows Him to be, we would have inexhaustible fuel for praise.

Peace at the Word. When believers love the law like they should, their experience is peace. God does not change, and neither does His truth. So while people change, and circumstances change, love for God’s unchanging Word gives the believer an unshakeable peace.

Commitment (in hope) to the Word. The doing in Psalm 119:166b proceeds from the hope in Psalm 119:166a. The believer doesn’t do God’s commandments because he is hoping in his own doing. He does the commandments of the LORD in Whose salvation he hopes (verse 166a). This is what hoping in YHWH and His Word looks like: doing whatever He says, because He is our hope.

Loving the Word from the soul. The theme of love for the Word has been touched twice (Psalm 119:163b, Psalm 119:165a). Now it is heightened with the focus on the soul in Psalm 119:167a, and loving exceedingly in verse 167b. How greatly we should love God’s Word with our very soul!

All of these affections for God’s Word must be directly connected to the God of the Word. Whether the keeping of the Word in Psalm 119:168a, or all of these affections toward the Word throughout the stanza, we engage God’s Word as those whose ways are before God Himself (verse 168b). We live and love as those who see Him always seeing us.

What affections do you have toward God’s Word? In what circumstances do these affections come out? What habits might improve/increase your affections toward God’s Word? How constant/affecting is your awareness of God throughout your life?

Sample prayer:  Lord, how glorious You are, both in Yourself and in Your relating to us by Your Word. We are greatly awed by Your Word. And we greatly rejoice at Your Word. And We love Your Word exceedingly. And we praise You for Your righteous Word. And we have great peace from Your Word. And great hope in You, in which we are committed to keeping Your Word. By Your glorious Word, give us to know continually that we are before You. And especially, gather us to Yourself in Your worship through Your Word, in Christ, through Whom we ask it, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP119V “Though Princes Hunt Me Without Cause” or TPH119U “Though Princes Hound Me for No Cause”

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